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Wednesday, June 4, 2008

So, this is a little bit of a personal ancedote, but I think its worth mentioning.Yesterday three of my friends were coming home from school for the summer. I was driving, and I felt the wheel jerking a little bit, so I pulled over on the highway. I had a flat tire. Now, I have no idea how to change a flat tire. I was never taught and never thought to learn. The two other girls in the car didn't know what to do either, but my male friend did. His stepfather had taught him. If he had not been there, we would have had to call the highway patrol or a tow truck. I thought it was interesting that none of our family members had thought to teach us girls. We could just as easily (and did) get a flat tire. And we would have been kind of stranded.I realize that this is a small sample group and a personal story, but it probably resonates among many women. Please, if you are a parent teach your children basic car maintence skills.

My sister always used to change the oil in our various cars with my dad. I always wanted to learn (and I suppose I still have the opportunity), but I'm trying to be less dependent on cars now and in the future.

Nobody ever taught me how to change a tire, either. And then I found myself in a situation where I had to. In theory, it was self-explanatory, but the hubcaps had these special anti-theft nuts that needed a special tool to be removed, and that tool had long-since disappeared. I had to get the thing towed and have the mechanics cut them with a tool.

I always wanted to learn more about cars, but my father insisted "we pay people to do that." It was a class thing more than a gender thing. And we weren't even rich! We were lower-middle class. I need to make learning more of a priority.